We live in a musical world. From the ever-changing melodies of the breeze, the rhythmic, steady lapping of the waves, the low hum of critters at dusk, the forte booming of thunder during a storm—our world doesn’t just posses musical components; our world IS intrinsically musical! Recent studies are proving that even our very own sun and stars produce harmonies in space! (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/8114694/Stars-song-captured-by-scientists.html). As humans who are born into, dwell in, and interact with our world, WE are intrinsically musical too! That’s great news for those of you out there who consider yourselves “not musically inclined.”

One of the very first experiences you have as a human, is feeling the rhythmic heart beat of your mother in the womb. When she gets excited or scared, you feel her heartbeat accelerate. When she is relaxed and content you feel a slow gentle pace. We are already making rhythm and emotion associations before birth! The musical parts of us form in conjunction with our physical bodies. Our voices have pitch that moves up and down to communicate ideas. Our breath has rhythm and changing dynamics—from loud to soft. We walk and run to a steady beat. As an array of instruments will sound with contrasting timbres, people have voices with varying tones and resonances. Regardless of race, religion, or place in society, we all have these qualities in common.

Much like our musical qualities bind us together in our humanity, so does group music-making bind us together as communities. Music can be traced back to the origins of people. It’s interesting to note the early uses of music: in initiation ceremonies, in wedding celebrations, and in pre-war rituals. What do these all have in common? They all foster community and unite people together under one vision. Though music can be made alone, there is something mysteriously powerful about making music with others. Even in the womb, our first musical experiences serve to unite us to our mothers. Experiencing music from a young age teaches us about emotions and connecting to people in ways we could never learn without it, and they are lessons that stay with you for life. Think about it—how many exact sentences said to you as a young child can you recall? Probably not even close to the number of songs learned as a child that you can sing word for word!

In short, music is necessary for everyone. Exposing your children to musical experiences early on is the best thing you can do for them!

This study compared the processing of song and speech stimuli in children. The children with autism showed reduced activation in Broca’s area during the speech stimulation, but conversely showed higher activation in this same area during song stimuli. The conclusion of this study shows that disconnection may not be the case, but rather reduced activation of Broca’s area.

The authors conclude that this is positive news for rehabilitation of these language skills. They highlight music therapy as the potential solution.

So how can music therapy improve the language skills in a person with autism?

First, let’s call this habilitation, not rehabilitation. Rehabilitation is relearning a skill that has been lost. Most folks with autism never fully developed language.

First, is simply attention. Music captures and holds attention. Individuals with autism do not have impaired ability to process music, and often have heightened ability. These facts dramatically improve attention during a music therapy session. That seems obvious – if you’re not tuned in, you surely can’t process the words!

So when John Doe comes to music therapy, he is engaged.

The other important factors are shared neural pathways and neural plasticity. Neural plasticity allows our brains to change. Music learning has been shown to increase brain size and improve efficient interaction. So, participation in music therapy focused on language ability can improve Broca’s area (and others!) Because Broca’s area also processes speech, these improvements from musical tasks will benefit language skills as well.

So when John Doe leaves music therapy, his brain has improved its ability to process language.

Seems so simple! Of course WHAT occurs in that session is very important. Simply banging drums and singing songs won’t cut it. Neurologic music therapists are able to create musical experiences that enable these neural improvements.

Music Therapy Services of Greater Atlanta are experts at using music to improve language skills in patients with autism spectrum disorders. If you have any questions about how we use music to improve language, feel free to email us at admin@mtsofga.com. We’d be happy to answer your questions! If you have a loved one with autism who might benefit from these services, schedule a FREE SCREENING so we can assess their potential for improvement.

For those interested in the full article, free access can be found here: